Having Purity of Spirit in serving God by Dealing with all Mixture and Impureness

The first qualification in the work for the Lord is purity; we need to deal with all the mixture in our spirit, realizing that impureness is a great killer, so that we may have a pure spirit as we function in the church life and live the Christian life.

As we read and prayerfully consider the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we cannot overlook the matter of purification.

Both Ezra and Nehemiah did a work of purifying the people of God.

They came out of Babylon and returned to Jerusalem, and they were on the proper ground to build the house of God.

However, they were full of mixture and impurities, for the Babylonian element was still in them.

So there are two long chapters in these books showing us how both Ezra and Nehemiah were stirred up in their spirit when they saw the impureness among the people of God, and they did a work of purification among them.

We need to realize that, even though we may have come out of Babylon and have returned to the proper ground of oneness in the church life, the element of Babylon has not yet been extracted from us; we still need to be purified.

Actually, we need to be purified again and again, just as the children of Israel, because impurity and mixture creep in and settle in our being.

Many times we make the same old mistakes, repeating the pitiful history of failure due to our impureness.

If we remain in the mixture and impurity in our being, if we are not dealt with before the Lord regarding our impurities and our mixture, degradation will come in.

We need to come to the word of God with an attitude of trembling at the word so that we may allow the word of God to shine on us and expose any mixture and impureness in our being.

We need to revere the word of God and allow the word to expose what is of the self and what is of the spirit.

In ourselves, we are not faithful to God, but praise the Lord, we have a faithful God who keeps speaking to us and is faithful to shine on us to both expose the impureness and mixture in us and infuse Himself into us.

As He shines on us, we simply confess the uncleanness, impurity, and mixture in our being.

We cannot but agree with the light. We should not fight or argue with the light in God’s word.

May we remain in the word of God and allow the word to operate in our being.

We may even feel that the word is like a sharp two-edged sword, dividing the soul and the spirit, and piercing into our inner being.

We need the operating word of God to expose, judge, and purge any impureness in our being, so that we may be purified to be the expression of God on the earth.

We need to have Purity of Spirit in our Service to the Lord, having no Impureness or Mixture

As he commended himself as a minister of God, Paul testified that he was in all pureness, knowledge, long-suffering, kindness, a holy spirit, and unfeigned love (2 Cor. 6:4, 6).

The first qualification in the work is purity of spirit; for us to serve the Lord, what matters most is not knowledge or power but pureness.

However, a big problem among God’s children today is the mixture of the soul with the spirit.

Especially among those who serve God and work for the Lord, a big problem is impureness.

Some have a great power while others have great knowledge of the word of God, but there’s impureness there.

They may speak the word with great power and build something, but then they destroy what they build with their impurity.

On one hand, they demonstrate God’s power; on the other, their spirit is mixed, and there’s damage done to the work.

We can testify that in the church life, we all learn to love the Lord, enjoy Him, and experience Him, and we are striving to keep the one accord in the one Body of Christ.

However, sometimes when we touch a brother or a sister, we touch God in them, but we also touch the self.

Sometimes we touch the spirit of meekness in someone, but we also touch a stubborn self.

Yes, there’s the Holy Spirit in them, but there’s also the flesh there, very real and present. Oh, Lord Jesus!

Many times we are like this; when others touch us, they touch something of the Lord, but they also touch the expression of the self.

We want to serve the Lord and we may have the capacity to do so, and we may even have the zeal and the knowledge of the word, but what about our spirit?

Do we have purity of spirit, or do we have impureness or mixture in our being?

We need to ask for the Lord’s grace and mercy. We need Him to shine on us and expose the impureness in our motive, our desire, and our decisions.

We need to let the Lord work in us and break our outer man, tear it down, and separate it from our inner man.

If we are not delivered from the outer man, if our outer man is not broken so that there would be purity of spirit when the spirit flows out, we will build with one hand and damage with the other.

If our outer man is not broken and if impureness is not removed from our being, we will do something for the building up, and on the other hand we will damage with our impureness and mixture.

We cannot pretend in the church life or in serving the Lord; we are what we are, and the kind of person we are will come out.

If we want to be used by the Lord for the service in the church and for the building up of the church, our spirit must be released, and our spirit must be pure.

When others listen to us or touch us, they need to receive life, not the cargo of our self or the flesh.

It is very difficult to find a person whose spirit is pure (2 Cor. 7:1).

Pureness is the prerequisite in the leadership in the church life and a basic condition of our service (1 Tim. 3:9; 1:5).

The problem of mixture and impureness is the greatest problem among those who serve the Lord.

If we serve with impureness and mixture in our spirit, we will express not only the Lord but also ourselves, carrying our own “cargo”.

This will cause the Lord’s name to suffer loss not only on account of our lack of life but also on account of our mixture. The church will also suffer loss.

May we treasure purity over power.

May we treasure and emphasize being pure and having purity of spirit more than having great knowledge of God’s word, being zealous for the Lord, and being powerful in the Lord.

May we come to the Lord and open our whole being to Him, allowing Him to shine and expose, deal with and purge, and eradicate the impureness and mixture in our being.

Lord Jesus, work in us to expose, remove, and eradicate all impureness and mixture in our being. Save us from serving God and living the church life with an impure spirit. Purify our mind, emotion, will, and conscience. Have a way to break our outer man so that our spirit may flow freely and purely. Amen, Lord, we treasure purity of spirit more than having great power and much knowledge of the Bible. Break through in us. Break our outer man. Tear our outer man down. Separate our outer man from our inner man. May our inner man flow in a pure way for the building up of the church and not for its tearing down. Save us from damaging the church by our serving with an impure spirit. Save us from causing the Lord’s name to suffer loss on account of our mixture. Oh, Lord. Have a way in our being. May we have purity of spirit in all we say and do!

Deal Completely with all Mixture in our Spirit so that we may Release our Spirit in a Pure Way

We can never overemphasize the matter of being purified, for merely by living and walking in this world and living in the self we become impure and full of mixture.

In every step of the Lord’s recovery of the building up of the church and of the Christian life for God’s purpose, we need to be purified.

The more we grow in the Lord, we have to treasure purity over power.

Many times we pray for strength and victory, but we do not care that much for purity of spirit.

We need to deal completely with all the mixture in our spirit so that, when our spirit is released, it will flow out in a pure way to edify, nourish, and encourage others.

If there’s impureness and mixture in our spirit, it will be dangerous when it is released, and it will cause trouble to others.

In our fellowship with one another, we need to have purity of spirit; in our coordination in the church life, our need is pureness.

Things are always happening in the church life and in the family life, and if we are not pure in spirit, we will have many misunderstandings.

If we are not pure in our motive, if we’re not in the constant work of purification of the Spirit, we will be entangled either by this trouble or by the next one.

This is why some of the brothers and sisters leave the church life; they have an impure motive, and there is mixture in their spirit.

Yes, they love the Lord and the saints, and they appreciate the healthy teaching of the ministry, but they also have something else that they treasure, and they have an impure motive or aim.

Sooner or later, if we don’t deal with impurity and mixture in our spirit, we will cause damage in the church life or we will leave.

It is unavoidable to have mixture and impurity in our being, but we can deal with it by coming to the Lord and allowing Him to shine on it, and by remaining in fellowship with the saints in a transparent way.

We need to deal completely with all the mixture in our spirit so that when our spirit is released, it will cause build up in the church and not damage the saints.

Many misunderstandings come from the impureness of spirit.

Let’s take the husband and wife as an example; if they truly love one another without impureness, though they may quarrel or have disagreements, there is no misunderstanding.

However, as soon as impureness comes in on either side, there is one misunderstanding after another.

They may try to be careful, wise, and patient, but misunderstandings will continue because of the impureness.

It is very much the same in the church life.

If we don’t deal with the mixture in our spirit under the Lord’s light, if we don’t deal with the impureness of spirit and live and serve in purity of spirit, misunderstandings will come in.

We may try not to offend others, but this is of the flesh, for we don’t do it with a pure spirit.

We may try not to be offended, but even this is of the flesh, for our motive is not pure. Oh, Lord Jesus!

We notice this at the office also, where people are doing their best not to offend each other, but it is not an easy matter, for everyone has impurity in their heart.

May we cooperate with the Lord to completely deal with impureness of spirit so that we may have purity of spirit!

May we aspire to be used by God and allow Him to break through in our being!

May our spirit be pure when we speak, and may our release of the spirit be for building up the church and not for tearing down or damage.

The Lord will use many outward situations and circumstances under the discipline of the Holy Spirit to work out the breaking in our being.

We just need to be open to the Lord and allow Him to work in us and break our outer man.

And at the same time, we go on enjoying the Lord little by little, in purity of spirit, until our spirit is fully pure!

Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with You to deal completely with all the mixture in our spirit! Amen, Lord, have a way in our being. We want to be useful to You in the church life for the fulfilment of Your purpose. May our spirit be released in a pure way, and may we have purity of spirit. Save us from releasing our spirit with mixture and impurity. Save us from damaging the church by our speaking and our doing with impurity and mixture. Oh, Lord. We open our being to You. Have a way through the discipline of the Holy Spirit through the outward situations and circumstances to break our outer man. Keep our being open to You. May our spirit flow in a pure way and with purity of spirit for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. May there be pureness in our service to the Lord and in our daily Christian life and church life.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 54, “The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit,” ch. 7, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 6, entitled, The Intrinsic Significance of the Purification of the Returned Captives.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – The purity of the children of the kingdom, a portion via, The Kingdom, Chapter 33, by Witness Lee.
  – Everything inconsistent with the absolute purity of the throne must be judged – a portion from, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The danger of adding things to the purity of the divine revelation in the Bible, article via, Contending for the Faith.
  – A Testimony: Enjoying Crystallization Studies I and II of the Book of Numbers to Work out the Kingdom of God on Earth Today, via, Living to Him.
  – The need of breaking and separation, a portion via, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit, Chapter 7, by Watchman Nee.
  – What Does It Mean to Be Pure in Heart? When we’re single in purpose and have only one goal for God’s glory, we’re pure in heart. Read more via, Bibles for America Blog.
  – “Lord, make one who is so single, pure and genuine to behold You with an unveiled face.” Read more via, holding to truth blog.
  – The spirit must be pure; it must be fresh, not old and stale – a portion via, Lessons on Prayer, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – From my spirit within flows a fountain of life— / The Triune God flowing in me; / God the Father’s the source, Christ the Son is the course, / And the Spirit imparts life to me. / Lord, I treasure the sweet flow of life, / And my soul-life at last I lay down; / O Lord, deepen the pure flow of life; / At Your coming may life be my crown. (Hymns #1191 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – We need a heart in all things pure, / With mind both sound and clear, / To understand His mind and heart / In trembling and in fear. / We need a fervent, loving heart, / A heart on fire with love, / With an emotion filled with zeal / For Him, all else above. (Hymns #744 stanzas 2-3)
  – Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / For this I seek Thee, Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / No more to isolate, / Nor self to perfect make, / My spirit nought abate, / Deeply to flow. / Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / I ask Thee, gracious Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / My trust in self o’erthrow, / Down from self’s throne I’ll go, / That living water flow / In spirit, Lord. (Hymns #846 stanzas 4-5)